Everything went well from the beginning.  All of the 43 Associates and guests arrived on time and we were away.  The weather held out all day with plenty of sunshine with the occasional puffy cloud and cooling breeze.  Just the right weather to do some serious walking and sight seeing.

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The castle is just magnificent, and full of wonderful treasures including great paintings and artifacts.  An extremely pleasant way to spend an hour wandering around and taking in the beauty of what is of course part of our heritage.

Crossing the moat to enter the castle.

In the gardens nothing is more English than a rose garden and there were roses in plenty, including of course the Tudor rose which had a garden all to itself.  A special Hever Castle rose is currently being developed and should be available to enjoy later in 2009.  Apparently more than 15,000 bedding plants are planted in the gardens annually, ensuring a wonderful display, no matter what weather conditions the seasons bring.

A Terrace in the Italian gardens

There is a wonderful Yew Maze, which has more than 1,000 individual yew trees lining its winding paths.  The gardens are very extensive and well stocked with trees, water features and a lovely lake that can be walked round on a designated footpath which takes about an hour to transverse, also traditionally built rowing boats can be hired from the boathouse for the more energetic.

A picnic in the Lioggia by the Lake.

The day seemed to pass very quickly, and I am sure that not all the attractions were seen, but that will be for another day.

Barbara (centre) relaxes at the end of the visit.

We all felt tired on the journey home, but extremely happy and satisfied that we had had another lovely outing.

There are more photos - to see them, click here.